The Story

A young priest named Daniel Bresson retreats to his tiny apartment upstairs from the homeless outreach center that he has just closed for the night. While drinking a glass of scotch, he hears a knock on the door downstairs. Annoyed, he opens the door to see a Jesus-like figure standing there, hovering above the ground.

In the lobby of PPH, Cuddy asks House to attend her daughter's simchat bat, a Jewish baby naming ceremony. House declines the offer. He enters the ER and looks through the patient files, finding Bresson's. Cameron says he is just a drunk priest who hallucinated Jesus.

House introduces the Bresson case to the team. They can't believe he chose this one. House tells Taub and Kutner to run an EEG for epilepsy and a CT for brain tumors. Foreman and Thirteen are sent to check the home for toxins. House admits to Foreman and Thirteen that he is not serious about the case. He refuses to tackle a real case until they choose between their relationship or their jobs.

During the EEG, Bresson denies that he was drunk. Kutner wonders why Bresson has been on the move for years, and the priest says that a teen in his youth group accused him of inappropriate contact. The Church has moved him around since then.

House tries to get Wilson to skip Cuddy's baby event. Meanwhile, Foreman and Thirteen discuss their options over lunch.

Taub and Kutner report back to House what they found out about the priest. House declares the case is over. Thirteen and Foreman tell House that they are neither breaking up or quitting. House fires Foreman and asks for his badge. Foreman walks out. House tells Thirteen to go find a real case.

Taub and Kutner discharge Bresson, who begs to stay. He knows something is wrong. Kutner looks at the foot Bresson complains about and finds a black toe which has fallen off. The toe is in a bottle on a desk in House's office. House, Taub and Kutner mull over the reasons. House orders a home inspection, testing the blood for carbon monoxide, and to put the patient in a hyperbaric chamber.

Foreman cleans out his locker while he and Thirteen wonder what to do next. Meanwhile, Cuddy and House argue over her invite to attend the naming ceremony. He considers her a hypocrite for not being religious and having the event anyway. He ultimately accepts the invitation. Cuddy goes to Wilson, angry that Wilson prodded House to accept Cuddy's invitation. She wants him to uninvite House.

Thirteen monitors Bresson in the hyperbaric chamber. She bickers with Taub and Kutner about Foreman. They hear Bresson calling for help in the chamber. He seems to be having a heart attack.

Foreman comes to Cuddy to ask for a letter of recommendation. Cuddy declines, stating that House should have fired him for falsifying medical records when he put the hospital in jeopardy.

Taub, Kutner and Thirteen brief House that Bresson's chest pain was not a heart attack. House debates Bresson on God, life and free will. Bresson has lost his faith. With the lungs testing clean, Bresson doesn't have pain as the catheter is pulled out. A new symptom arises: regional anesthesia. House says to run a nerve conduction study.

Wilson tells House not to fire Foreman and stay away from Cuddy's baby naming. Meanwhile, Thirteen asks Chase and Cameron for advice on how to handle her dilemma.

Taub and Kutner perform a nerve conduction study on Bresson. They find an intercostal neuralgia affecting a nerve that runs along the ribs. Suddenly, Bresson's right eye loses sight. Nothing is structurally wrong with the eye. With the heart rate down, sensory loss and progressive muscle weakness, the patient is shutting down. House uses a metaphor of a rock band and its lack of fans to illustrate the absence of white blood cells. So it must be the spleen. Thirteen stays behind to ask House whether he would rehire Foreman if she quits. If Foreman is okay with it, so is House.

Taub and Kutner biopsy Bresson's spleen. House enters as Kutner inserts a syringe into Bresson's abdomen. They resume challenging each other's wits over faith and God. Cuddy approaches House as he leaves the patient room. She tells him he is unwelcome at her special occasion. He won't attend.

The team runs stains on the spleen samples. Thirteen concludes that Bresson's spleen is all right, with a few "minor bugs." House and Bresson continue their philosophical debate, which steers toward the topic of Cuddy. Taub interrupts to get House. The holy water in the church gave Bresson pneumocystis, which is a harmless bug that only affects people with compromised immune systems. "Father Nietzsche has AIDS," House declares.

Bresson refutes this diagnosis and refuses an AIDS test. Taub is willing to treat the patient for AIDS without a test. He is concerned about the teen that Bresson allegedly molested. House agrees.

Thirteen tells Foreman that she found a new job and he can return to PPH. Foreman is defensive and Thirteen walks away. Meanwhile, Wilson and House disagree over who is and isn't a hypocrite by going to Cuddy's event.

Taub meets Ryan, the teenager who accused Bresson, to disclose the AIDS information. Ryan is indifferent.

The next morning, Foreman asks House for his job back. Thirteen argues with him and she storms off. House gives Foreman the option of going after her or getting his job back. Foreman doesn't leave and House tosses him his badge.

Kutner sees that Bresson's chest is covered in boil-like lesions. The team is back together diagnosing. Taub suggests IgE Syndrome and Thirteen offers up neurofibronatoisis. She and Foreman start sparring so Taub and Kutner happily hurry out to perform a genetic test on Bresson. He is in the ICU and the lesions now cover his face. Ryan shows up in the room wanting to talk to Bresson. Taub tries to block him, but he weeps and apologize at Bresson's bedside.

Wilson asks House if he is having second thoughts about Cuddy. They continue to clash until House has a realization. He erases the symptoms on the board one by one, leaving "hallucination." House rushes out to the ICU to tell Bresson that he is not going to die. He has Wiskoot-Aldrich Syndrome, a genetic problem that seems like AIDS. The hallucination, however, was from the scotch.

Cuddy approaches Cameron to tell her about the patient. Cameron suggests she tell House that she wants him to come to the baby naming ceremony tonight. Cuddy meets up with House in the lobby exiting the hospital. They share a moment but neither one can make a move. House exits.

The ceremony begins at Cuddy's house. House sits in his apartment, alone. Thirteen enters her home to find Foreman waiting. They smile and she gives him a high five and a kiss.